Almond Bread

One of the first things I baked after moving into my Pullman apartment was this great Braided Almond Bread. It freezes very well, which was very beneficial because I didn't want to eat the whole loaf all by myself in the short span of time before it would have gone bad if left out. It was also very nice to be able to pull a thick slice of bread out of the freezer on the way to work in the morning and have it for a morning snack.

Part of making the almond filling was blanching the almonds--something I'd never done before. I was amazed at how easy it was! I'm pretty sure the original recipe has you make enough almond paste for two loaves of bread, but I used the whole almond paste recipe on just one loaf--it wasn't overpowering, so you're definitely encouraged to go that way.

I used a bit less sugar than the recipe called for, so my bread didn't exude sugar the way you might see in the original recipe posting, but it was still dang tasty! (and easier to clean up.)